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Make sure you have a solid foundation Week 2

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Hey our friend

We hope your last week was a good one. During the last week we had great meetings at the coffee shop as well as with the staff. I Markus ended up having some issues with my neck which got fixed by a chiropractor friend. It is such a blessing having people like that in our life. We were also able to talk more as a staff about how to move forward with the different ministries we are doing in North Beach. Please keep praying for Gods guidance for that.

Week 2 Make sure you have a solid foundation

Last week we were talking in our series “How to change the world and find true friends “about the fact that praying will open a door into their lives. This week we want to talk a about you. One thing I learned in my almost 10 years of ministry with YWAM is the importance of relationship with other believers and a church. I saw people that went home after a great time in missions and then almost lost their faith. Why? Because they didn’t have a place to get refilled by God. To be able to reach out to others you also need a place of refreshment and refilling. First of all you need your personal time with Jesus which can be anytime during your day. Read your bible, pray and just spend time in His presence. Make it a set time and make a habit out of it. That way it won’t be taken out of the schedule just because life gets busier. Second you need a small group from your church where you regularly go to. In a small group setting people can really help you personally to grow as well as help each other with challenges in life. Third have a church you are regularly going to. Jen and I have a church in the city were we are going to. Every time we go we feel refreshed and ready for a new week. We also were able to find wonderful friends there as well.

If you don’t have some of those things on a regular basis in your life make sure to find them. It will help you to move forward.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

How to make friends and change the world Week 1

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Hey our friend

We hope you had a great week. Ours started along with our San Francisco summer which is mostly in April and May and September and October. Through the good weather we were able to reach out to the people in the park as well. We also have 2 new people working with us at the boys and girls club which is amazing. One girl is from Germany and the other one from Columbia. Please keep them in your prayers over this season.

Lets change the world

For the next few weeks we will share with you a bit about how you can be a part of changing the world. When Jesus gave us the great commission He didn’t just give it to his disciples but to every Christian that lived from then till today. So bear with us over the next few weeks to get you equipped and ready to influence your circles. And also please share the link to the blog on your facebook (or other social networks), email and with other Christians you know. We feel that God really wants to use those posts over the next weeks to empower people for the great commision.

Week 1 Prayer and who are the people

When you are thinking about the ministry Jesus did and how he reached the people you will find 2 great patterns.

First he reached the people that were close to him. If you look at the people who he had the most impact on you find out that these were the people that lived with him on a daily base, his disciples. Jesus was all about an intentional community. So when you start praying about the people God has for you, start where you live. Think about 6 neighbors (I put down the number 6 since it is a great number to host in a living room without having it too crowded but also create a openness) that are living right next to you. After you found those people start praying for them. But one thing that is really important in that, ask God to give you His heart for them. NEVER SEE THEM AS A PROJECT AND NEVER APPROACH THEM LIKE A PROJECT!!! Instead go up to them with a genuine heart and mindset to truly get to know them and become friends with them. Don’t just make it your only agenda to get them to church. But in the same way don’t make it a secret that you love Jesus, just bring it in the right timing. People want to know how much you care before they trust you.

Second Jesus prayed. Jesus spent lots of time in Prayer with His father to understand what He wanted to do as well as understand how he could do that. He spent 40 days in the desert to fast and spend time with his Father. How much time do we spend in Prayer before we go out to do ministry, work, groups, sports etc? I I think many times we are more about doing hands on ministry instead of spending time in Prayer. But I believe a ministry that has no prayer foundation will have a hard time lasting. So before you do any ministry, spend at least 40 days in Prayer for the people God puts on your heart to reach. A few things are happening then. You get a deeper heart for these new friends and deeper inside into there lives. You get more compassion and love for them. And you lay a foundation for God to move in a deeper way in their lives. So don’t neglect the importance of Prayer. And trust me it can be a bit hard at the beginning spending a long time in Prayer but as more you are fine-tuned to Gods voice you have a hard time stopping.

So start the challenge of week 1 with one other Christian either your wife or husband or a friend who lives really close to you and start praying for the new friends that God wants you to reach.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

Are you using the influence given to You

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Hey our friend

Last week was one of those weeks were you just say at the end Thank you God for being so amazing. Jen and I were teaching our Mission Adventure students last week on the topic all in and all out. We talked about relationship with God and how important it is to share it with others. It was awesome to see how God used those times to challenge and encourage the students. On the last day we had them nail all the things on a cross that were holding them away from how god sees them and as well how he wants to use them, like fear, low self-esteem etc. God brought some new freedom to the students, which is amazing. And then God ministered to all the YWAM Staff as well. We had a team from Bethel in Redding here that prayed over each of the staff. Jen and I felt so encouraged and re strengthened. Our father always knows exactly what we need. We also saw one of the people we work with taking one more step towards Jesus which is amazing. Please keep us in your prayers in this week. Your prayers mean a lot to us. Thank you!!

Are you using the influence given to You

I think many times we are asking God for more influence and greater things. But the question should be, God am I using the influence you have given me to the fullest? God all placed us in places of influence. Let me give you an example. Every time I go to the downtown location of YWAM we walk through 5 different neighborhoods. Every time I walk through I start praying and asking God to fill those places with his presence and to touch people with his love. When I see a cop car I usually pray for safety over those officers and also pray for honesty. When we do ministry in the coffee shop we pray for God’s presence over the coffee shop, the same with all the other places we do ministry at. We also pray every morning for the people that live in our building and the neighbors around us. One of the giftings God gave me is encouragement, so I use it to encourage people all over the place. It can be on Facebook, busses, while walking to a place. I still feel that I’m just at the beginning and that there is so much more God has given me influence in. Bu it’s a start.  I want to encourage you to pray and use the influence God has given you for his Glory. Ask Him how to use the giftings he gave you on a daily base. It will change places and will bring more of Gods Kingdom to this earth.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

How to get more patient?

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Hey our friend

During the last week we could see again and again the faithfulness of our father and how he has great things for us even in little things. Every time we fly to a place we get a free flight snack like cookies. I (Markus) really love those cookies. When Jen came back from the funeral of her grandpa she asked the steward if he could give her one of the cookies for her husband. He ended up giving her 3 big packages with those cookies. So instead of a little blessing God just went over the top. But that is the way God cares for us. He wants to bless us just because He loves us, but we have to let Him. That is true for every part of our life. I think just looking at ministry and people we can see the biggest breakthrough in people that are willing to let God work in their lives. I saw that in children, adults, homeless, rich, middle class or every part of society.  So it depends on us and how much more we want of God, not on Him, because He already gave everything. Please pray this Prayer with us. Father we pray that you give us, our families, friends, acquaintances and people we minister to a deeper hunger for you so that they can experience relationship with you, your love and blessings in a deeper way. Amen

How can we get more patience?

Jen and I have been doing ministry for over 10 years and one of the most important things we needed in that time is patience. Many times when you work with people things are not going as fast or as planned. But does that mean things are not going at all? No not at all. God is working in those times. So if we want to grow in patience we need to look at the one who is in charge. If we look at circumstances it is sometimes easy to lose patience. Paul wrote to the Corinthians that love is patient, so that means to be more patient we need to have more of Gods love in our life. How can we be more filled with His love? By spending time with Him and also asking Him to give us more of His love so we can love more in true love. But to change our way on how to respond to impatience in our life is not necessarily a quick process; it is taking time to re teach ourselves. It takes us years to learn a habbit, so be patient in the process of re learning.  But as more we practice love in our everyday life as more patience we get as well. We start seeing things out of Gods perspective and who could be a better teacher then Him.  Graham Cooke said it really well:
“…You don’t learn patience in a weekend. You don’t learn patience by being focused on your circumstances. You learn patience by being focused on God in your circumstances.”

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

What riches hold you back?

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Hey our friend

2013-03-26 17.09.23Wow Easter week went by quickly. I (Markus) ended up getting sick with a cold after Jen was sick over the last weekend.  Also Jen went to Pennsylvania for the funeral of Grandpa. Our DTS Students also left for Outreach. Please keep them in your prayers for safe travel and great opportunities to bring the gospel to Italy and Greece. Also keep praying for more relationships into the community here as well as more staff to work with us in North Beach.

What riches hold you back

During the last few years I ministered to many people that most of us would consider rich. Some of them are. I was thinking about the story of Jesus and the rich man and how he asks him how to get to heaven. Jesus told him to sell everything and follow him. After that the rich man left and Jesus was sad. I think many times it is so easy to look at this parable with the attitude of saying that being rich and having money is a bad thing. But I tell you the message in this is not just geared towards money, its geared to everything that keeps us away from God. Are you willing to give him everything? What if He asks you tomorrow to quit your job and with that give up your retirement and health benefits; would you do it? Would you trust him to take those steps? I believe that every single area in our life were we don’t trust God is that area that Jesus called out in the rich man. And all of us have those areas in our life, so the goal is to submit more and more of those to Jesus and trust him. When I went into fulltime ministry I gave up a job and my career to go to a place where I didn’t speak the language and didn’t have the resources for. God taught me in that time a valuable lesson, trust me no matter what, I will take care of you. Jen and I both have been in missions for over 10 years and God took care of us every single month. It teaches you humility and also strengthens your faith. Our father is faithfull and he wants to be a part of every area of our life. So what are the areas you are holding on to? Find those areas and then start to give them to God. It will take you some time but keep doing it and trust me you will start to feel more freedom. If we don’t have to be in control but let the one that knows the absolute best take control we will be less stressed.

Have a blessed week

Markus and Jen

 

P.s. San Francisco, besides Manhattan, is the most expensive city in the nation to live in. However, we believe God has called us to be missionaries in the urban world. Currently we are in need of $2,100 more a month to cover life and ministry costs. During the last few month God helped us by providing some wonderful new monthly supporters. We are now $1000 closer to the amount we need monthly!!  We’d like to offer you an opportunity to join us in engaging a city with a loving God.

This is what we are looking for

4 people that commit to give $200 a month
5 people that commit to give $100 a month
8 people that commit to give $50 a month
8 people that commit to give $25 a month
20 people that commit to give $10 a month

Or you can support us with any amount you would like. This could be monthly or as a one-time gift.  Anything helps. Under this link you can find all the info on how to support us.